{"id":2508,"date":"2016-02-21T05:35:06","date_gmt":"2016-02-20T19:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/?p=2508"},"modified":"2016-05-26T04:56:28","modified_gmt":"2016-05-25T18:56:28","slug":"gurps-traveller-the-new-deal-1shot-4c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/?p=2508","title":{"rendered":"GURPS Traveller, \u201cThe New Deal\u201d 1Shot.4c"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Duty Roster:<\/h3>\n

Edrasii \u201cEddy\u201d Bkar\u2019hen<\/a> (Ronnke)
\nElla Stanbridge<\/a> (Melissa)
\nErtrane \u201cBuck\u201d Buckner<\/a> (Herodian)
\nHenri Haank Makruus<\/a>
\nIbrahim \u201cAbe\u201d Nouri-Abbood<\/a> (Rigil Kent)
\nSam Turner<\/a> (Winston)
\nSae Rraetheg<\/a> (Ronnke)<\/em><\/p>\n

\"trav2-Porozlo<\/p>\n

Rush Job, Part III<\/h3>\n

Continued\u2026<\/strong> It was around 08:00 IST<\/acronym> and everyone was now awake in the crew\u2019s lounge, sorting out what to do about Eddy\u2019s capture. Buck pulled a radio-source detector out of his tool-pocket and synced it to his comm, and placed a call to Eddy; he could only narrow down his location to a residential quarter of the startown, moving generally toward the starport. Then Ella arrived, rather irritated at having to tear away from her \u201cprivate business\u201d so suddenly, having been alerted by a missed-call notice on her comm that contained a recording of the conversation with the bounty-hunter. Though his attempt to communicate had been cut off, Eddy had managed to pass on the words \u201cbroker\u201d and \u201cmeeting\u201d; Jones had been keeping tabs on the TrampNet feed for incoming deliveries (another now arriving) and found that there was a face-to-face meeting scheduled for an hour hence. Resigned to having to rush to this meeting she previously knew nothing about, Ella took a few minutes to put herself together and got under way, taking Abe along in Eddy\u2019s place; there would be just enough time to get through security, navigate the startown, and make the schedule. Buck, Sam and Sae were left to plan Eddy\u2019s rescue, also on an unknown, but believed short, timetable.<\/p>\n

Sae took charge of the rescue mission planning. They had the advantage of knowing the bounty-hunter was taking Eddy to the Hellhound,<\/em> his ship berthed on the other side of the starport; Buck\u2019s comm signal trace gave a rough starting location, giving them a fair idea how long it would probably take for him to reach the ship\u2014depending on how much grief the security personnel would give him at the entry checkpoint. Getting the bounty hunter in legal trouble would be difficult if his paperwork were in order, and they presumed it was. An open assault would give the Crew their own legal problems, aside from the potential difficulties inherent in the combat itself. In the end, they decided to have Buck booby-trap the ship\u2019s access hatch with a simple electrical discharge that would, hopefully, stun the very large man. As backup, Sam and Sae would be at the Crew\u2019s air\/raft across the wharf, pretending to work on a smoking engine, with Buck in the open back seat hidden under a tarp, aiming Sae\u2019s gauss shotgun loaded with stinger rounds. Once the bounty-hunter was stunned or unconscious, they could sweep in to \u201chelp\u201d and spirit Eddy away in the confusion. They left immediately to see it done; the air\/raft was positioned, smoke generated, and tarp readied. (Before leaving, Sae made a quick stop to \u201ccheck the cargo\u201d at the wharf, and dropped off Abe\u2019s blood sample in the specified drainage grate.) Buck made his way separately along the busy docks to the Hellhound<\/em> bearing a toolbox and clipboard; he was stopped on the way by a neighboring ship\u2019s crewman, complaining that the repairs he was waiting for were long overdue\u2014Buck promised he\u2019d look into it ASAP. At the target, he made sure nobody was looking, rigged the booby-trap and disabled the remote-opening receiver, and returned to the air\/raft the long way around, to take up his sniper\u2019s position. Then, they waited\u2026<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Ella and Abe had to call ahead to the broker to let him know they would be a bit late, as there was a lot of foot traffic at the security checkpoint\u2014he didn\u2019t make a fuss. They arrived around at the small, somewhat disorganized office around 09:30, and were greeted by a middle-aged fellow, the broker, who seemed like he was trying just a little too hard to be \u201chip,\u201d coming across a little awkward, but otherwise harmless. He said it was customary for him, and company policy, to meet with new clients and shippers directly, to look them in the eye and see what sort of cloth they\u2019re cut from. He offered them both a drink, and made some small talk about their company and its dealings, and cleared up a couple of minor paperwork and licensing questions. Afterward, they all shook hands and parted, satisfied that both sides were trustworthy.<\/p>\n

\"trav2-checkpoint\"<\/p>\n

As Ella and Abe were most of the way back through the still-crowded security checkpoint, Ella happened to look back and saw Maaq Mountain in the back of the queue, along with apparently-handcuffed Eddy. They decided to avoid drawing any attention right away, but find a waiting-room seat on the other side of the checkpoint, to observe the bounty-hunter as he passed through\u2014they commed the rescue team to inform them. Eddy was taking every opportunity to cause the bounty-hunter trouble; security personnel were observed ushering them both to a side office to be interviewed. After a long wait, they finally re-emerged, with a more-compliant Eddy, and were ushered through the rest of the checkpoint. On the other side, Eddy spotted Ella and Abe at the waiting room; when Maaq wasn\u2019t looking, he mouthed, \u201cHelp me,\u201d as they passed, before the bounty-hunter flagged down a starport tram headed in the direction of his ship.<\/p>\n

\"trav2-MMountain\"
Maaq Mountain<\/div>\n

The rescue team got a second comm from Ella informing them that the bounty-hunter was on his way to the ship, and some fifteen minutes later, they emerged from the terminal and walked over toward the ship. Eddy stopped momentarily to ask the bounty-hunter to check his comm, which was beeping an alert (the bidding on the last freight lot had closed; the Spinward Star<\/em> had the low bid); Maaq reluctantly obliged, expecting Eddy\u2019s shenanigans to resume at any moment. They then continued to the ship and Maaq triggered the remote, cursing when it failed to respond. Then the rescue team held their collective breath as the bounty-hunter reached for the door handle.<\/p>\n

There was a loud electric crack, and the large man collapsed to the ground on top of Eddy.<\/p>\n

Sae rushed over to \u201chelp\u201d as a crowd began to gather. He checked the fallen giant\u2019s vital signs and declared him to be \u201cjust fine\u201d (Sae\u2019s medical training didn\u2019t include Humaniti, exactly). Buck then came over as well, and could find no pulse or respiration at all. Being untrained in medical matters, they called out to the gathering onlookers for skilled assistance; one of the crowd happened to be a medical student, who determined the bounty-hunter had suffered a full cardiac arrest, and started trying to revive him, while waiting for the starport paramedics to arrive. As the crowd was focused on the lifesaving efforts, Buck discreetly removed his booby-trap from the door and made a quick exit from the scene, while Sae collected up Eddy and did the same. Sam piloted the air\/raft away with all aboard, leaving the bounty-hunter to his fate, in more-or-less capable hands.<\/p>\n

An hour or so later, as the Porozlo suns had set for the first of two times for the day, to be replaced by the gathering clouds, the last of the freight arrived at the wharf, and Customs was called to perform their outbound inspection. The customs official arrived on time, and complained of a bad hangover from a night of partying; he curtly refused Eddy\u2019s \u201csympathetic\u201d offer of a drink\u2014he really didn\u2019t want any extra paperwork over the scuffed RFID<\/acronym> tags on the containers, so he admonished Eddy to keep them sealed, and cleared everything for departure. Haank and Valerie returned around that time as well; Haank had a good day on the course, got some good tips from some famous golfers, and admitted he \u201cmay have used Valerie as a distraction\u201d; Valerie seemed to be feeling a bit better as well for it.<\/p>\n

Now with nothing remaining to be done, the Crew set about clearing up their business and readying to leave: Sam submitted the flight plan (he didn\u2019t bother Ella, who usually handles this; she had gone immediately to sleep after returning) and he and Buck worked through the pre-flight checks; Haank and Sae got the cargo loaded and secured; Eddy paid the starport \u201ctab,\u201d and at the starport authority office, attempted to delay the departure of the Jesse Belle<\/em> as payback for their under-bidding on freight\u2014which ended up costing him a large chunk of what little cash he possessed to bribe the officer. Then, as the rain began to fall across the docks, roughly 21 hours after arrival, the Spinward Star<\/em> lifted off once more, with all souls aboard. As the ship was vectored around the edge of the incoming weather, a bit of turbulence woke Ella, and she immediately commed Truman to apologize for not returning to him before the ship departed as she had promised, but promised instead to find him again sometime.<\/p>\n

\"trav2-fulacin<\/p>\n

Forty-four hours later, the Spinward Star<\/em> reached the outbound jump point and entered jumpspace for Fulacin. Eight days later, she broke out of jumpspace in the Fulacin system, around six hours out from the mainworld. Orbital traffic was light, no significant delays, and she berthed at the highport, a day and a bit before the rush-deadline\u2014the Crew had succeeded. The cargo was unloaded at the wharf, and their respective buyers signed off; the sealed containers (which Haank had no reason to suspect were illegally-obtained) were paid for in cash in full at the wharf. Then the Crew began the cycle anew, bound for their next stop on the way to Regina.<\/p>\n

\n

Notes<\/h3>\n